So Romantic (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
by ilna
Summary: Grace asks about the mementos in the new shadowbox and Catherine shares (most) of the stories behind them.


**Notes:** Mari and Sammy – Thank you for the squeal-inducing feedback and assurances, not to mention the always fabulous suggestions.

Readers and REAL McRollers – Thank you to those who sent in suggestions for the shadowbox (additional notes at the end). We loved hearing your ideas!

And thank you all for your amazing support!

Lastly, happiest of birthday wishes to REAL World superfan, ToZiKa! I don't *think* this will make you cry, but I've been wrong before …

 **Hope you enjoy!**

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 _So Romantic (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)_

Grace jumped up from her place on the sofa when Catherine entered the living room carrying a basket of laundry.

"I can help you fold those, Auntie Cath," she said, moving toward her by the stairs.

"What about your homework?"

"All done. Well, all except Civics," she amended when Catherine raised a questioning eyebrow. "But I can do that after we're done. It's just a short reflection on the president's farewell address. I'll finish it before Uncle Steve and Danno get back."

"Okay."

"I can carry the basket upstairs for you," Grace offered, placing her hands on the sides.

"That's okay, sweetie, I've got it.

"But …"

"Grace, I can carry a laundry basket upstairs."

"I know you can," Grace said without hesitation. "You're not helpless just because you're pregnant."

"Thank you."

"But you don't have to 'cause I'm here," she reasoned brightly.

Catherine chuckled and let her take the basket. They walked up the stairs and into Steve and Catherine's bedroom where Grace set the basket down on the bed. As she straightened she gasped.

"That's new!" She ran over to the wall where the shadowbox of memories Catherine had given Steve hung near the one with his grandparents' mementos. She whirled around. "When did you get this?"

Catherine smiled. "I gave it to Uncle Steve for Christmas."

"Ohhhhh," Grace sighed dreamily. She turned back to the box. "With a picture from your wedding right in the middle." She smiled. "I think that's my favorite picture of you and Uncle Steve from that day. I love how neither of you is looking at the camera. Like you only have eyes for each other." She sighed again. "So romantic."

Catherine came up next to her and put her arm around the teen. "I thought so, too."

"And your wedding invitation … oh! And the placecard with Niblet's name from Thanksgiving!" She looked at Catherine in surprise. "You put that in here?"

"Of course. It was such a wonderfully sweet idea." She squeezed her shoulder. "From our wonderfully sweet niece."

Grace beamed at her before looking back at the box. "And that's sand all around the edges," she said, delicately tracing the sides of the box. "Is it from the beach here?"

"It is. From a very special spot where a lot of important things have happened."

Grace gasped. "Like your necklace Uncle Steve gave you before the wedding. Oh! And the ornament on the tree!"

Catherine nodded. With a grin, she added, "We've gotta be careful or pretty soon there won't be any sand left in that spot."

Grace laughed and looked back at the box. "What's this?" she asked pointing to a small colored piece of paper.

"That's the signal flag for the number nine," Catherine explained. "When I was on reserve duty in September, Jacob and Uncle Steve sent me messages with those. That one was from Uncle Steve and it meant we had nine more days till we were back together."

Grace sighed again. "Ohh. That's so romantic. Counting the days …" She eyed the contents of the box again. "What's that little bag from?"

Catherine laughed. "If we're going to go through everything, we should probably sit down." She carefully removed the box from its nails on the wall and they moved to sit on the bed.

Grace glanced back at the laundry basket. "Are you sure? What about …?"

"They're just towels," Catherine said with a smile. "They can wait. And as long as you're sure the rest of your homework won't take long."

"It won't," Grace assured her. "I already know what I want to say."

"Okay."

"You don't have to tell me every story," Grace said, nodding at the box in Catherine's lap. "If some are … private, I understand."

Catherine smiled at her thoughtfulness. "Well, this one's not. That bag used to hold lemon drops. Uncle Steve got it for me the first time we stayed at–"

"The haunted bed & breakfast!" Grace finished. "You told me about Adele and Captain Briggs."

"Right."

"I want to stay there sometime. Danno says it's horse hockey, but I want to see if I hear Adele, too."

Catherine laughed at Danny's pronouncement. "You should take your dad then, Adele and the captain will make a believer out of him."

Grace grinned. She looked back at the box and pointed. "When is this picture from?"

"That's when we were at the Academy. You met the Mills at the wedding, right?"

Grace nodded. "The colonel and Mrs. Mills are really nice."

"Yes, they are." She nodded at the picture. "That's in their backyard. Your uncle Steve had never built a snowman before."

"Aww," Grace said. "So you built one together?"

"We did."

"That's so romantic."

"Well, we weren't together then," Catherine said. "We were just friends."

Grace smiled knowingly. "I bet it was still romantic."

Catherine thought about the warmth in Steve's gaze when he'd thanked her for making sure he'd built a snowman at least once. She smiled softly. "Yeah, maybe it was."

"Oh! And here you guys are at the Halloween party a couple years ago. Maxwell Smart and Agent … Agent …"

"99," Catherine supplied. "Your party was the first time either of us had dressed up for Halloween in a very long time."

"And now you have three years in a row!" She grinned. "Well, Uncle Steve has worn a suit anyway."

Catherine chuckled. "Right. We'll see how long he can keep that up."

"It's Uncle Steve. He'll find a way."

Catherine laughed. "You're probably right."

"What's this receipt for?"

"That is for the chocolate milkshake I was drinking when Uncle Steve and I met."

"Ohhh, you told me about that! In Annapolis your first year at the Academy."

"Yep. Twenty years ago."

"Twenty years ago!" Grace repeated in amazement. "And you kept it all this time."

Catherine smiled. "Yes, I did."

"That's so romantic. Like you just knew that someday …"

"Someday."

Grace bounced in place excitedly. "I know what I didn't ask you when you told me that. What's the first thing Uncle Steve ever said to you?"

Catherine grinned. "He said he needed a favor."

Grace's jaw dropped. "A favor? Before he even introduced himself? Who does that?"

Catherine laughed at how Danny-like she sounded. "Your uncle Steve, that's who."

Grace shook her head, chuckling. "Did you do the favor?"

"Sort of."

"And did he buy your milkshake to pay you back?"

"No, he bought me dinner."

"Ohh, your first date."

"Not exactly a date."

Grace smiled mischievously. "Just because you didn't call it a date …"

Catherine chuckled. "Have you been talking to Carrie?"

Grace grinned. Looking at the box again she gasped. "Hey, that's the backsplash."

"Don't you mean 'splashback'? " Catherine teased, nudging her with an elbow.

Grace giggled.

"I took a picture of the pattern," Catherine explained.

"It was so romantic that Uncle Steve put that in because you liked it so much, even though you'd already had that other one done."

"It was," Catherine agreed. "I think of that every time I'm in the kitchen and it makes me smile."

"And now you can think of it here and smile, too," Grace said happily. She pointed to another object in the box, leaning closer to get a better view. "What's this napkin from? It looks used."

"It is. That's from a bar in Bangkok. Do you remember I told you once that Uncle Steve and I weren't always together?"

Grace nodded. "Yes, you said you broke up for just a little bit because he thought it would be better for you."

"That bar was where we met again," Catherine said. "That was the napkin his drink was on. It was an important night so I decided to keep it."

Grace sighed once more.

Catherine smiled. "Go ahead and say it."

"That's soooo romantic." She smiled happily and scanned the box for more. "Oh, I love this picture with you guys and Cammie on the deck."

"Yeah, that was from the first barbecue after the deck was finished."

"And you both look so young in your uniforms here," she said, pointing to another picture.

"That's from my graduation. Uncle Steve surprised me and showed up."

"Ohh, that's so …"

"Romantic, yes."

Grace grinned at her before looking back at the box. "This is Uncle Steve's handwriting," she said, pointing to a piece of hotel stationary with 'Getting ice' written on it.

"Yeah, that's from a hotel we stayed at once in Annapolis," Catherine said, deciding to leave it at that and not explain the very special significance of that particular hotel stay after Steve's commissioning.

Fortunately Grace's attention was caught by another item.

"And this old crossword puzzle has your handwriting _and_ Uncle Steve's."

"Yeah, we started that together after Carrie and John's wedding. Her parents treated us to a room at this very nice bed & breakfast in Newport News to thank us for helping."

"Oh, that's nice," Grace said genuinely. She looked back at the crossword. "Why didn't you finish it?" she asked innocently.

"We just … didn't get a chance," Catherine said, her cheeks flushing slightly as she thought about how'd they'd gotten distracted playing what amounted to 'strip crossword puzzle'.

Grace didn't seem to notice, already looking at another memento. "Why is there a pancake recipe? Do you and Uncle Steve like to make pancakes together?"

Catherine paused, momentarily regretting putting the crossword and recipe next to each other. "Um … yes, we do."

"Why?"

The flush in Catherine's cheeks became more pronounced. "That's … probably one story we should leave private," she said, suddenly very grateful Grace had assured her earlier she wouldn't mind if there were some private stories.

Grace glanced up at her. She smiled easily. "Okay," she said. "But I bet it's romantic."

Catherine huffed a laugh, grateful she didn't press for more information.

"Hey, I used to use this shampoo when I was a kid," Grace said, noticing a bubblegum shampoo label.

"Yes, you remember when you wanted me to try it?"

Grace laughed. "I bet Uncle Steve noticed right away."

"He did. Because he'd never smelled that scent on me before …" She smiled softly at the memory of their conversation. "In all the years we've known each other."

Grace's eyes widened. "He remembers every scent?"

Catherine nodded.

"That's so …" Grace began and sighed, "romantic." She smiled. "Do you remember every scent he's ever used? Like his shampoo and soap and stuff?"

"He doesn't use anything scented."

Grace looked thoughtful, realizing she'd never smelled a particular scent on her uncle.

"It's a habit from when he was a SEAL," Catherine explained. "Scents can be detected by the enemy."

"Oh," Grace said, her look serious.

"And that's why when we would see each other back then, I wouldn't use anything scented either. I didn't want to take the chance of transferring that scent to him at all."

"To keep him safe," Grace said in sudden understanding.

Catherine nodded. "It was a small thing but … if I couldn't be with him to have his back …"

"You could still do that," Grace finished, her voice awed.

"That's right."

"Wow." She stared at the box for a moment and then looked at Catherine. "Thank you for telling me all the stories, Auntie Cath."

Catherine smiled and put one arm around her, giving her a little sidearm hug. "You're welcome, sweetie."

"It's amazing you've kept all these things."

"Well, it helps that they're small."

"But when they're important to you, you make the effort, right?"

"That's right," Catherine said with a soft smile.

Grace sighed happily. "This is really, really special. I bet Uncle Steve loved it."

"He did."

She looked at the wall. "And it's just perfect hanging up there next to the one with the memories of his grandparents."

"I thought we could turn that into a memory wall," Catherine said. "Keep adding to it. What do you think?"

Grace squealed suddenly. "Ohhh, when Niblet is born you can make another one! With the first sonogram and … and … oh! Your ID bracelet from the hospital! And Niblet's little footprints and handprints and a little lock of hair!" She clenched her fists under her chin excitedly.

Catherine laughed. "You'll need to come up with a new adjective for that one," she said as she stood to put the shadowbox back on the wall.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't think you're going to describe Niblet's footprints as romantic."

Grace thought for a moment, then grinned. "I'll use Uncle Steve's favorite word … adorable."

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 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Notes:** Special thanks to **srhittson, Sarai, alharpole** , and the **guests** who sent us wonderful suggestions for the shadowbox memories. I know not every one made it into the story, but remember, Cath's making a memory wall so you may see them down the road!

 _Keep track of all the REAL World stories on our Tumblr page - mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com_

 _You can still join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with Add me, please! in the subject line._

 _And find Mari on Twitter asking your opinions on all things McRoll in the REAL World! at Mari21763 and add #REALMcRoller_


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